Xbox pirate game Sea of Thieves sails onto Battle.net with 3 separate editions

Microsoft is releasing another Xbox Game Studios game on Battle.net, this time it's Rare's popular live pirate fantasy Sea of Thieves.

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Xbox's games everywhere approach has led to first-party exclusives showing up on PlayStation and Switch, and now more first-party games are crossing over to Blizzard's storefront. First we saw Activision's Call of Duty make the jump, now games from satellite studios are coming over, including Avowed, Doom: The Dark Ages, The Outer Worlds 2, and more recently Sea of Thieves.

Sea of Thieves will release on Battle.net on May 22, 2025 with three editions: The standard $40 edition, a $50 deluxe edition, and a $60 premium edition that gets you 6 days early access, access to the closed beta, and comes with extra cosmetics and in-game currency. Sea of Thieves also supports Play Anywhere on Battle.net, so if you buy Sea of Thieves on a Windows PC or Xbox console, you can download it and launch it through Battle.net for free.

One interesting thing to note about this development is that Battle.net is further being used as another place to sell games from all Microsoft-owned studios and divisions. All of Xbox's groups now sell games on Blizzard's storefront: ZeniMax/Bethesda, Xbox Game Studios, and of course Activision Blizzard King.

Doom: The Dark Ages is a game from Bethesda/ZeniMax, which as we know from the Microsoft-ZeniMax merger agreement, is a limited-integration company. ZeniMax operates as its own separate division within Microsoft.

The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed are from Obsidian, a team from the Xbox Game Studios group. The same is true for Sea of Thieves, made by UK-based Rare who also operates under Xbox Game Studios.

The rationale is clear for Microsoft: Battle.net is yet another place to sell games--a store/launcher combo that has millions of users a month--and the platform is yet another piece of value from the $68.7 billion Microsoft-Activision merger.

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Check below for more info on Sea of Thieves via the FAQ:

• Do I need an Xbox Live account to play? - To be able to play this game, users will need to sign in when prompted with an Xbox Live account. If you already play on Xbox or Windows, simply sign in with the account linked to your Xbox gamertag!
• Is the Battle.net version included in crossplay? - Yes! Players will be able to crew up and play together regardless of which platform they're on, so those already playing on Xbox, PC and PlayStation®5 will be able to play with friends on Battle.net.
• Will game progress carry over to Battle.net? - Yes! Your ranks, cosmetics and currency will all be there after you sign into your Xbox Live account, meaning you'll be able to pick up exactly where you left off
• Do I get the game for free on Battle.net if I already own it? - Existing players will not receive an entitlement to a free Battle.net copy. However, crossplay breaks down barriers by enabling new Battle.net players to crew up easily with existing players on Xbox, PC and PlayStation®5. (Additionally, Sea of Thieves supports Xbox Play Anywhere allowing for a digital copy purchased on Xbox or Windows 10 to be used on Battle.net, and vice-versa.)